Software Uniqueness: How and Why? Puneet Mishra Dr. Mark Stamp Department of Computer Science San José State University, San José, California

Agenda Introduction The need (Why) Applications (Where) Techniques (How) Results Conclusion

Introduction Biological SystemSoftware Genetic DiversityCloning 1 Individual != Extinction Dies of species 1 Flaw => System Destroyed

The need (WHY) Uniqueness Defined Obfuscation Vs. Uniqueness Break One  Break All Obfuscation used at different places giving unique instances N Instances Increases the problem by N

Applications (Where) Key Protection DRM Code Obfuscation Software Watermarks Anti-Piracy Virus Protection

Techniques (How) Code Transformations Assembly Level Ideal C Language used Types of Transformations Code Reorganization Compiler Based Flow and Structure Miscellaneous

Code Reorganization Mathematical Transformations Redundant Code Breaking up variables Dummy Arguments to function calls Reordering the code Transforming to spaghetti code via goto

Compiler Based Optimizations might nullify Transformations Customized compiler for implementation Location to introduce transformations

Flow and Structure Modify Data Structures Change algorithmic implementation Risks Careful Mapping Required Difficult to Automate

Miscellaneous Applying Transformations Repeatedly Using pre-existing Obfuscators Operating System calls Makes the code platform dependent

Transformation Tool Pattern Matching Tool Looks for appropriate locations to insert code Implementation is non-trivial

Results Graph Original Vs. Transformed Assembly Code

Conclusion and Future Work Many Potential Applications Expected increase in Difficulty Ideal case by a Factor of N

Thank You!